Repairing all kind of things around the house is thought by many people to be a proof of manhood. This is how it comes that some men try to replace broken spring on residential garage doors by themselves. Many of them remain with severe, permanent injuries and others lose their lives in this foolish attempt.
Garage doors are operating with the help of torsion springs. These springs are propelled by the tension they accumulate. This tension is your hidden enemy, because it can propel the spring into your eyes and blind you, if not pass through your brain.
When torsion springs release their tension, they may have unpredictable movements, thus exposing everybody around to severe injuries, from losing an eye to losing your life. This is why only skilled persons should perform this replacement operation
Most of the times, although springs work as a pair, only one will break. Even so, you still have to buy the set and have both of them replaced. You want your door to operate smoothly, so it is required that both springs act with the same strength.
Replacing torsion springs requires a special tool called spring tension tool. It helps releasing the spring's tension, then to tension the new spring in place. Try to rent the device from a garage door company, if you can and if you are convinced you know how to do the operation by yourself.
Garage doors from the last generation may have torsion springs that can be tensioned with the help of an electric drill. Such doors are much safer when it comes to replacing their springs, so you'd probably manage to do it by yourself. Even so, you need to know what's all about, in order to avoid troubles.
Garage door fixing professionals can be found in Yellow Pages or on the internet, and they are usually fairly cheap, taking into consideration the high level of danger this job implies.
A garage door springs replacement would probably take about 500 dollars out of your pocket. However, in some states, such services may be obtained as cheap as for 75 dollars or so. Do some research within your area and see what you can get.